Impatiens hawkeri cultivar Kitamb.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of New Guinea Impatiens plant, botanically known as Impatiens hawkeri, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Kitamb.
The new Impatiens is a product of a planned breeding program Inventor in Gensingen, Germany. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new Impatiens cultivars with interesting and unique flower and foliage colors.
The new Impatiens originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in October, 1997 of the Impatiens hawkeri cultivar Timor, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,144, as the female, or seed parent, with a proprietary Impatiens hawkeri selection identified as O 271, not patented, as the male, or pollen parent. The cultivar Kitamb was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Gensingen, Germany in April, 1998.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken at Gensingen, Germany, since May, 1998, has shown that the unique features of this new Impatiens are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Kitambxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Kitambxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Impatiens cultivar:
1. Rounded, upright and compact plant habit.
2. Freely branching growth habit; bushy appearance.
3. Dark green-colored foliage.
4. Freely flowering habit with flowers held above and beyond the foliage.
5. Red-colored flowers.
Plants of the new Impatiens differ from plants of the female parent, the cultivar Timor, in the following characteristics:
1. Leaves of plants of the new Impatiens are not as glossy as leaves of plants of the cultivar Timor.
2. Plants of the new Impatiens have larger, more rounded and flatter flowers than plants of the cultivar Timor.
3. Plants of the new Impatiens flower slightly later than plants of the cultivar Timor.
4. Plants of the new Impatiens have red-colored flowers whereas plants of the cultivar Timor have bright orange-colored flowers.
Plants of the new Impatiens differ from plants of the male parent, the selection O 271, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Impatiens are more vigorous than plants of the selection O 271.
2. Plants of the new Impatiens have darker colored leaves than plants of the selection O 271.
3. Plants of the new Impatiens flower earlier than plants of the selection O 271.
4. Plants of the new Impatiens have slightly lighter colored flowers than plants of the selection O 271.
Plants of the new Impatiens can be compared to plants of the cultivar Tarawa, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,320. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Gensingen, Germany, plants of the new Impatiens differed from plants of the cultivar Tarawa in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Impatiens were broader than plants of the cultivar Tarawa.
2. Plants of the new Impatiens had broader and more green-colored leaves than plants of the cultivar Tarawa.
3. Plants of the new Impatiens had lighter colored flowers than plants of the cultivar Tarawa.